The inventive concept relates generally to semiconductor devices and display devices. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to a multi-channel semiconductor device and a display device incorporating the multi-channel semiconductor device.
A display driver integrated circuit (DDI) is a semiconductor device that provides image signals to a display panel. The DDI typically uses a plurality of output channels (e.g., 720 channels) to output the image signals in parallel, which can provide relatively high throughput to the display panel for an efficient refresh rate.
To ensure that the DDI operates correctly, tests are generally performed on all of the output channels prior to commercial deployment. The time and effort required to perform these tests tends to affect the price of the DDI, so it is advantageous to perform these tests in a manner that is time and cost efficient.
One way to improve test efficiency is by designing a semiconductor device with separate output pads for testing. These test pads are monitored during a test to determine whether the semiconductor device operates normally. Although these additional test pads can improve testing performance, they also have a drawback in that they occupy additional space on the semiconductor device. This can be particularly problematic in a semiconductor device including several output channels because it requires a large number output pads, which can occupy an excessive amount of space.